Strive for Perfection
by Bockie
Summary: Follow a girl through life, death, and beyond in her ultimate desire for perfection. She fights, strives, and works for perfection even in death. Little does she know that she is a part of a plan orchestrated before her 'life' even began.


This is my first take on something more serious, other than comedy fanfic.. so please R&R and know how I did.

It is basically the beginning life of my main character, and this happens in the true Bleach universe, just 40-50 years BEFORE the beginning of the story, there will be character cameos and all that cool stuff. I will probably update this chapter soon, once I get my girlfriend to go over it and discover my crappy grammar and sentence structure. Until then please enjoy the first chapter of "Strive for Perfection"!

"_They say that nobody is perfect._

_Then they tell you practice makes perfect._

_I wish they'd make up their minds."_

Winston Churchill

Chapter One: Strain

"Hey… HEY! Hold the bus!" exclaimed a small girl, running up along the path to the bus stop. The few students standing there turned their heads slightly, and then went back to staring ahead awaiting the bus's arrival.

"Phew! I just barely made it!" She said with a smile, as the school bus pulls up in front of the group of students. The boys crowded the front, making the girl get on last. Once the girl was up the steps, she peaked around the corner seeing all of her fellow students. Soon she noticed there was only a single seat left, next to a girl with long red hair, being the only place the girl sat down in the empty spot.

"Hi there! My name's Fiona, I guess we'll be sharing the same seat... This is my first day of High School! Isn't that exciting… Is it your first day, as well? I love your hair! So what's your name?" said Fiona, very happy to engage her bench-companion in some form of conversation on her first bus trip of the school year.

The girl didn't seem to respond much, her eyes were on a small book in her hands. A page was flipped every few seconds as her eyes quickly canvassed the pages with ease. After a few more page flips, she said in a very plain way.

"Yes, we will. Yes, it is exciting. Yes, it is my first day as well. Thank you. Vivian Forge. Is that all you want to ask?"

Fiona tilted her head to the side, blinking a few times. "Uhm… What book are you reading?" she said as she moved forward in her seat, trying to get a peak at a word or two on the pages.

"It's called 'The Way of All Flesh' by the author Samuel Butler. You can borrow it when I get done with it, if that is what you're getting at," said Vivian, flipping through more pages, not missing a single word of the text.

A grimace formed on Fiona's face, "The Way of All Flesh?! That's a creeeeepy name for a book! Is it about zombies and shinigamis?"

"No, it is about the Pontiflex family, written around a hundred years ago… It's basically some anti-Victorianism autobiography… It was on the required reading for my class… Your next question was 'Why are you reading that?'" Vivian's eyes rose from the confines of the book, peering out the window into the dreary gray of the morning. Her eyes squinted a moment, trying to make out something deep within the fog.

Fiona was dumbfounded, looking to this girl, "Wow... You're really creepy, did you know that?" She notices the misplacement of Vivian's eyes, so she too looks out the window out of curiosity. "What's out there, what are you looking at?" She moved in her seat more so her face was almost on the glass of the chilly window.

The two girls didn't see anything out in the fog; it was merely their tired minds playing tricks on them in these morning hours. The bus soon creaked to a halt, the bus driver yelling out "AWIGHT, WELCOME BACK!!" almost in a mocking manner. All of the children let out a deep sigh and filed out of the bus in anguish.

Once outside the bus, Fiona waited for Vivian to escape as well, "Hey, Vivi. It was nice talking with you, I hope we sit together on the bus ride home!" she said with a smile, to the preoccupied Vivian. Her eyes came up from the book to meet Fiona's.

"Y... yes, it would be nice, wouldn't it?" Vivian offered a faint smile, closing her book before continuing up the walkway to classes. Fiona smiled and followed her up the way, parting ways with a big way and smile as she went to her own classroom.

The first day of class was like every other first day, full of boring lectures of rules and regulations. Vivian was one of the few students enrolled in the 'Triple Honor Course' of the school, meaning those children were the best and the brightest. It was no easy matter getting into the Triples, each candidate was tested thoroughly through all of middle school, elementary, and even in preschool. These students were not made; they were born geniuses of the world. No margin of error was allowed in their daily lives, everything was scheduled and maintained to the highest degree.

After the first day of class, the students fell into their normal roles. Vivian studied each and every second of the day, constantly reading, learning, and developing new skills. Each day she sat on the bus, and her new friend Fiona badgered her with questions each and every day like clockwork, then she went along her own way.

The two girls never really saw or spoke of each other besides on the bus for a short few minutes each day. Vivian was far too busy in the Triples to go out and have fun with friends, or even chat with them for a second via the telephone.

Throughout the school year, Vivian became the only person to remain in the Triples program. All of the other students couldn't keep up with the pace and either quit, or had to leave for health concerns. It seemed like with every person that dropped out, Vivian became more and more enthralled with her work of perfection. After one obstacle was cleared, three more replaced it; she met and continued through all of the challenges victorious each time.

During her Senior year of highschool, only a few months away from Graduation, she began her day just like any other. She woke up at 4AM, took a shower, got dressed, ate breakfast and then got on the school bus. This day was just the same, she thought, as she sat down on the fabric of the bench seat. Her eyes gazed out towards the window, seeing the usual gray of the morning. With a sigh she slid a book from her pack and began to read as always.

As the trip continued, one of the guys sitting in front of her turned in his seat to talk with her.

"Hey, Misses Smarty. What's wrong, you ain't gunna be all crazy today?"

She assumed this was their normal teasing of her, they being jealous of her ability.

"What, can't you hear? Are you ignoring me, whore?!" the boy said with some potency in his voice.

With a sigh, Vivian looked up from her book, "I'm sorry I was busy reading, what do you have a problem with me today?"

"I asked you a question! Normally people answer questions when they're asked them. You're a smart bitch, you should know that, whore!"

"… I'm not acting crazy, because I'm not crazy? It's that simple, I didn't think I had to dignify that with an answer.. Now if you would leave me be, I would very much appreciate it."

The boy got from his seat now, moving to the spot next to Vivian.

"You know, you always sit here alone and mumble to yourself. Are you so stuck-up that you don't have any friends or anything? That's kind of pathetic! Right, boys?" he said loud, so all his friends crowding around would hear. They all laughed and agreed with him.

Vivian sighed and slid her book back into it's place in her bag, "You know very well I don't sit here alone, I guess Fiona is sick today, that's why she can't make it to school. That's all."

All of the boys busted out in laughter, "Fiona?! There's never some other smarty-bitch sittin' with you! You must be crazy in the head or something! Always sittin' and talkin' to yourself.. and now you got an imaginary friend!"

Vivian gritted her teeth and popped up in her seat, "You know, what?! You guys aren't even worth the oxygen you breath each day, this world would be better off witho—"

Her speech was cut off as the side of the bus exploded, half of the group of boys screaming in agony as they were hit with burning steel and shards of glass.

Vivian was blown out the other side of the explosion with such great force, after hitting the ground she continued to skid and roll along it for quite some time. She laid there, her clothes bloodied, ripped and torn, not knowing for sure if she was alive or dead. Her eyes were partly open, seeing the clouds pass the blue sky overhead, there was a faint beep in her ears that came from some unseen source. Trying to move any part of her body was futile, she figured we bones were broken.

_Thump_

_Thump_

She continued to hear, her eyes searching frantically for the source, seeking to understand this persisting sound.

_Thump_

_Thump_

'I guess.. this is how I die.. I'm glad Fiona didn't get on the bus today.." she thought to herself in her final moments.

'What do you mean? I was on the bus, silly!'

'Huh? Fiona? Is that you? Are you okay?'

'Yes, yes, and yes!'

'Looks like I was the one asking all the questions today…'

'Mhm! I just have to tell you something important, Vivian.'

_Thump_

_Thump_

'… What's that? That I'm dying?'

'Well... yeah, that's true... but not what I need to tell you.'

'Well then, what is it?'

_Thump_

_Thump_

'You're not…'

_Thump_

_Thump_

_Thump_

_Thump_

…

…

There was silence, then a deafening roar that shook all around, Vivian's eyes shot open in response. Her body was now light as a feather, she sat up rubbing her head. "What happened? I thought I died.." she said softly to herself.

As she looked over her body to check wounds, her eyes grew wide noticing a broken chain flowing from her chest, leading to a fallen body of her own.

She crawled back and away from her own corpse. "What... what the hell, how am I looking at my body?!" A loud roar interrupted her thoughts, causing her to turn around towards the wreckage of the mangled bus. There were several large monsters with big white masks coming from the sky down onto their fresh feast.

Along with the roars of these seemingly vicious monsters were the cries of her fallen schoolmates, it sounded like they were being eaten alive.

Vivian frantically looked around before hiding behind a tree, hoping the monsters don't notice her as well. Her breathing was heavy, her mind was racing, desperately seeking answers. She sat there, hugging her knees to her chest, not sure of what to do. The screams of both man and beast began to die out after a while, soon there was nothing but silence and the sounds of police sirens growing near.

"Hey, did you die in the crash?"

Vivian froze hearing a voice and a hand falling on her shoulder, her entire body tensed from both surprise and fear.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you.. I'm here to help, actually." Said the voice of some mysterious man.

Her eyes slowly opened, turning her head to see a man dressed in an all black kimono.

"There you go. Did you see some of those monsters? Don't worry, they're all gone now, little girl." The man said with a smile.

"..who… what… are you? What were those things.." she looked to him for answers.

"My name is Talon, and I'm what you call a 'shinigami' ... a God of Death. Those big monsters with the white masks are called Hollows, they're pretty much souls gone bad." Talon smiled to the girl and ruffled her hair a bit, "Don't worry, I'll send you to the other side now. When you wake up you'll be in this place called Rukongai.. you should wind up in one of the better parts, you seem to have a fairly strong and noble soul."

Talon's hand fell on his zanpaktou, slowly sliding the length of the blade from it's sheathe.

The glint from the sun on the blade made Vivian fall back, "Please, don't kill me again!"

Talon chuckled to himself, and then planted the hilt of the zanpaktou to Vivian's forehead.

"Good luck in your next life, little girl." He said with a smile, as konso was performed.

Vivian's eyes flooded with tears as her body faded between the worlds.

The shinigami stood there a moment longer, sheathing his blade with a sick smile on his face.

"You're not perfect… yet…" said the man before as he disappeared from the world of the living.


End file.
